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Holiday Tunic

Holdiay TunicFrom the moment I resumed sewing garments in 2011, I was obsessed with learning to sew the cute $$$ RTW tops I could never justify buying for myself.

My second blog post was about recreating Milly peasant tops, and thus began my journey leading to The Tunic Bible. My first top, a silk peasant top looked quite homemade, but I was blinded by enthusiasm and after my investment of time and effort, I wore it with great pride. My mother bought the silk in Asia and I wanted to please her as much as myself.

Six years later I see the progress I’ve made but I’m still obsessed with recreating expensive RTW tops, and pay regular visits to the Neiman Marcus website for inspiration.

When Pfaff contacted me about becoming its ambassador I enthusiastically explained all of this to the company representative culminating in my desire to embroider tunics.

Julie Starr and I designed a tunic bodice for The Tunic Bible that would accommodate unlimited neckline variations. After the book was published, we began customizing necklines with purchased appliqués, but at last I have the capability to actually embroider necklines.

So this is my first tunic with a custom embroidered neckline, making this garment a dream come true!

I wouldn’t exactly call the following steps a tutorial just yet, but in case you want to know what I did, here goes…….

The photo below shows the design loaded onto my machine. The designs are large and require a larger hoop. My hoop is 360×260, but many of the neckline designs require a larger size.

3.Cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the front bodice pattern.

4. Place the design approximately 2″ below the edge of the fabric. This should allow enough space for the pattern piece placement after the embroidery is completed.

5. Embroider the design.

Some of the following photos below feature my practice sample embroidered in a single color just like the pattern download.

6. Cut a piece of fashion fabric a little larger than your embroidery design. This will be your facing. Stabilize the facing with your preferred method. In the sample I used a layer of organza. For the garment I applied Pellon EK 130 Easy Knit fusible interfacing to the facing.

7. Place the facing over the embroidery design right sides together.

8. Secure with pins and flip to back of embroidery design. (The color variation in the sample photo below is due to two colors of bobbin thread 😉 )

SAMPLE

9. Stitch around the inside of the embroidery (this is the neckline). Trim close to stitching.

SAMPLE

10. Turn and press.

SAMPLE

11. Trim the facing to a shape similar to that of the embroidery design, and finish the edge by turning under or serging the edge.

I received the beautiful dupioni from a longtime family friend. The silk is old and possibly the loveliest dupioni I have seen or touched with its fantastic weight, drape and very few slubs. The vibrant hues shimmer and radiate the varying shades of green and black threads. Its unique colors are gorgeous.

I stabilized the fabric with a soft cut-away stabilizer thinking I didn’t want to place stress on the fabric with a tear-away stabilizer.

Since a companion embroidery design was not available for the sleeves, I found a design from my machine.

I added back darts for a fitted back and a more flattering silhouette, and chose a shorter length just beneath the widest part of the hips (keeping up with the current RTW trend!)…

“Sew your own clothes, Save thousands of dollars and Look like a Million bucks!”. In August 2011, Sarah Gunn gave up buying clothes for a year and vowed to make her clothes. This experiment inspired her popular blog, Goodbye Valentino. Sarah is also part Mood Sewing Network and co-author of the Tunic Bible. www.goodbyevalentino.com